Harrods goes to court to replace executors of Mohamed Al Fayed's estate over solvency fears

Harrods has moved to court to replace the executors of the estate of its former owner Mohamed Al Fayed, citing concerns about the estate's solvency and the pace at which hundreds of women who say they were raped or sexually abused by the Egyptian billionaire are being compensated.

A hearing is scheduled for November 2026, The Times reported on Tuesday. Harrods filed what is known as a passing-over application in the High Court, seeking the removal of Al Fayed's current executors, believed to be close family members, and their replacement with court-appointed professional administrators. The application is backed by several specialist personal injury law firms representing victims.

"Over the past two years, there has been no public acknowledgement from the estate of Mohamed Fayed in regard to his appalling behaviour and no public apology towards the survivors," a Harrods spokesperson said. The statement added that the retailer remained concerned about the administration of the estate, the independence of its executors and its potential solvency, arguing that all victims should be treated equally and compensated without delay.

Al Fayed owned Harrods from 1985 to 2010, when the Qatar Investment Authority acquired the department store in a deal reportedly valued at £1.5 billion. He died in August 2023 at the age of 94, having never been charged with any crimes in his lifetime. It was not until a BBC documentary broadcast in September 2024, more than a year after his death, that the full scale and systemic nature of the abuse became publicly known. The Metropolitan Police subsequently confirmed that 146 survivors had reported crimes against Al Fayed.

Harrods launched its own redress scheme in March 2025 to compensate former employees and others who said they were abused while working at or visiting the store. The scheme closed to new applications on March 31, 2026, with more than 80 claims settled from approximately 180 registered claimants at the time. Separate legal actions against Al Fayed's estate are being pursued by other claimants employed directly by him rather than by Harrods.

The concern driving the passing-over application is whether the estate holds sufficient assets to meet the full scale of the compensation claims it faces. Professional executors, if appointed by the court, would be expected to conduct an independent investigation into the assets and liabilities of the estate, a process that family-member executors have reportedly not undertaken. Harrods insiders told Sky News that the current executors had ignored correspondence from the company's lawyers.

Al Fayed's fortune at the time of his death was estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, built across his Harrods ownership, his ownership of the Paris Ritz hotel, a yacht-building business and various other assets. Whether those assets remain intact and accessible, and whether they are sufficient to meet claims from hundreds of women, is the central question the November hearing will be asked to resolve.